Graphic Design 101: The Basics Of Logo Design

 

There are a million good logos out there, and a million more bad logos. But how do you create a good logo in the first place?

A good logo follows a few simple rules:

1. It's simple and doesn't have excessive, small details.
2. It uses colors in a well-balanced manner where no colors are excessively bright or lack contrast with other colors in it.
3. It's easily scalable and recognizable at any size.
4. It's highly recognizable even when made black and white.
5. It uses simple and/or highly recognizable imagery and symbolism.

Here are a few examples of bad logos:

Looking at these logos, there are a number of problems with them:

1. Obnoxious color usage.
1. Cazz's Sports Bar 'N' Grille, AOL, Endrun, 2012 Olympic Games.
2. Suggestive, inappropriate-looking imagery.
1. Government Of New South Wales, Catholic Church's Archdiocesan Youth Commission
3. Excessive detail.
1. Cazz's Sports Bar 'N' Grille, The Cleveland Browns
4. Messy and haphazard in appearance.
1. AOL, 2012 Olympic Games
5. Difficult to read.
1. 2012 Olympic Games
6. Non-distinct imagery.
1. The Cleveland Browns, AOL

Here are some examples of good logos:

You probably recognize many of the logos shown here, and not just because they're representative of major corporations. They also all of the rules listed above:

1. Simple and doesn't have excessive, small details.
2. Use colors in a well-balanced manner where no colors are excessively bright or lack contrast with other colors in it.
3. Easily scalable and recognizable at any size.
4. Highly recognizable even when made black and white.
5. Uses simple and/or highly recognizable imagery and symbolism.

When looking to create a logo yourself, make sure to abide by those rules, but don't forget to do these things as well:

1. Sketch, sketch, sketch, and sketch again. Play with shapes, colors, and details. Explore all kinds of ideas, pieces of representation and well-known symbolism!
2. Create multiple logos, especially if it's for a client, so that there are a few different options to choose from. Also consider showing your designs to friends and family for their thoughts.
3. Take the meanings of colors you are using into account.
4. Think carefully about how the overall appearance of your logo looks and make sure it doesn't mimic other logos too closely, especially those in the same industry as the person or company you are working for.
1. Also make sure that nothing appears overly suggestive, sexual, or inappropriate in any way. Remember that this logo could appear on anything and everything and in front of any audience.
5. Make sure that it looks good and is recognizable even when made black and white.
6. Make sure that it's highly scalable, meaning that it is still easy to see and recognize even when made very small, as seen here:

Looking at these logos, when the logo for Cazz's Sports Bar 'N' Grille is shrunken down, it's almost impossible to read, let alone easily recognize. By contrast, the logo for Beats Headphones is extremely easy to recognize even at the much smaller size. This is important because you simply never know how large or small the logo will need to be depending on how it's used, so it has to be able to be extremely small or large and still look good to maximize how versatile and useful it is.